alt Hacker NewsWe researched this thoroughly in the early 2000s and came to pretty much the same conclusion even back then.
For us the main problem was the reliability of the mover. If enough panels face the wrong direction for long enough it is worse than facing the sun in a good enough fixed position all the time.
Our angle was to use a simple motor that runs with constant speed and use a special patented gear (called VIAX) to turn that simple movement into a sun following motion. The bet was that a still simple mechanical gear would be more reliable than complicated electronics.
In the end none of our simulations made us confident any moving solution wouldn't eat the profits.
EDIT: For anyone interested, here is the patent. I think it is a really nice idea. https://patents.google.com/patent/EP0114240A1/en
Replies
I saw some guy in Britain that replaced his old fence with one made of solar panels because the cost difference between that and traditional was nil.
This was going to be the gist of my reply.
I don't have the depth of experience with solar installations cited in your comment, but I have worked with systems that expected automated moving parts to continue to function in an outdoor environment. They all required near continuous maintenance.
Having a high level of cynicism regarding the utility industry, I wonder if the preference for moving parts is due to the requirement that only a large company with a constantly employed force of service personal can manage such a system. This would provide a certain amount of cost-of-entry that only large utilities could provide.
To quote what a utility company's compliance office once said to me, in a different context, "Only big companies can do that".
I always thought that someone would invent a cheap, simple, reliable, and passive tracking system. No need for sensors or intelligent electronics.
You have a simple motor that slowly tilts the array from facing East to facing West as power is being generated. The motor does not start until the panel is generating a certain amount of power. The motor runs at a fixed rate with a screw that takes about 7 hours to move the panel.
Once power stops (when the sun sets) weights on the opposite side slowly tilt the panel back to the starting position so it is ready for the next day.